Oman Oil to raise $850 million revolving loan – sources

State-run Oman Oil Co is set to raise an $850 million revolving credit facility, sources familiar with the matter said.

The unsecured loan will be provided by a consortium of more than 10 banks and will be finalised over the next few weeks, the sources said.

Oman Oil has been a regular borrower of U.S. dollar-denominated loans over the past few years, in line with a wider push by the Omani government to raise external funding to reduce pressure on its finances, strained by a slump in oil prices.

The $850 million facility will refinance an $850 million revolving loan due in 2019, said the sources. Oman Oil did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Oman Oil completed in July last year a $2 billion financing which included a $1.15 billion revolving credit facility with a five-year maturity and the amendment of the terms of the $850 million revolving loan maturing in 2019.

The $850 million loan was part of a dual-tranche $1.85 billion financing the company raised in 2014.

The financing last year was provided by a group of banks including Credit Agricole, Deutsche Bank, First Abu Dhabi Bank, HSBC, Natixis, Societe Generale, Standard Chartered and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp, sources told Reuters at the time.

The new $850 million transaction is self-arranged, said the sources, meaning that the borrower is coordinating the fundraising by putting together a group of banks.